Ok so I’ve never been one for tech things but this past year I’ve fallen in love with a few gadgets that I had to share. I’m sure I’m totally behind on all of these but they’re new to me! Oh and I just got an Amazon Prime account….omg y’all how have a I survived this long without one??? It’s so good but sooooo dangerous!

First being the Amazon Alexa. I was super confused why people loved this product but once I become the proud owner of one I quickly fell in love. I keep my Alexa in the kitchen and she comes in super handy not only being a quick command away from instant music but also being able to set a timer and being capable of answer how many ounces are in a cup….things I totally take for granted when I’m in the kitchen. You can even have Alexa make our grocery list for you and send them to the app on your phone….hello god send. I’m forever making a grocery list and forgetting it at home. Yes I know I can always just use my note app on my phone but it’s way more convenient when I’m cooking and I run out of milk or I’m running out the door and I can just tell Alexa to put someone on my list and she does the work for me. Alexa is Google built in and I love her and don’t know how I ever lived without her. If you have one then get how amazing she is!

My gold cactus I found at TJMAXX but I found a few super similar cacti (linked below) / cheese board was a gift but I found similar an affordable boards (linked below) / candle holder & candle are both B&BW. It wouldn’t let me link for some odd reason / beach print was also a gift and I believe is a local artist

Second gadget obsession is the HP Sprocket. It’s literally the cutest little device that prints mini pictures directly from your phone. You can link it to your Instagram, Facebook and several other apps on your phone. The sprocket comes in tons of different colors so you can find one in your favorite color or find one to match your office. I have the gold one and I love it!! I feel like the world used to be uber obsessed with taking pictures and while we still are completely obsessed (maybe even more obsessed with photos) we only seem to keep them stored on our phones and share them on social media. I like being able to print out little minis to put on my dry erase calendar in my office, on my computer screen so I can stare at Addison (my golden retriever who is my world) even though she’s usually right under my chair or by my side.

My third an final current favorite gadget is the JBL clip bluetooth speaker. I’ve owned bluetooth speakers in the past but none of them have been like great quality, they’ve been more for looks and how cheap they are so I don’t feel bad when I break it taking it to the beach or leaving it at a friends house or whatever. The JBL clip might be small but it seriously sounds like a big bluetooth. I haven’t turned it max volume yet but I don’t know if there’s ever a time I’ll need to, it can blast some serious tunes y’all. I love that it’s portable, it’s waterproof which is the current main reason I love it so much. I used to have my phone turned all the way up while I took a shower but now I can hang this bad boy in the shower with me since it’s waterproof or leave it laying on the bathroom counter and not have to worry about moister getting to it. When warmer weather rolls around it will be amazing to take to the beach. The battery on it lasts like 8 hours or so before it needs to be recharged; it charges using a usb which is super convenient because I can plug it into my desktop, laptop, phone charge or even my car if I need to charge it. I hate when electronics have different charging plugs. The JBL clip comes in a variety of colors, I opted for the teal which I absolutely love!

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Ok if you follow a lot of bloggers/influencers on social media then you might have already heard (and might be beyond over hearing about it which I totally get) but on the off chance that you haven’t heard, LIKEtoKNOW.IT now has an app. It’s completely FREE! If you have zero idea what I’m talking about about LIKEtoKNOW.IT (I’ll use LTK for short) is a shopping program that allows your favorite bloggers/influencers to bring ready to shop looks/photos to their audience. When an LTK user wants to share a shoppable photo they first will link all of the products in the image and then they share that image with the us (the rest of the world). It used to be that you had to sign up to receive emails which after the photo was ‘liked’ the email would be sent to you containing the products featured and you would click on each image to shop; the images would redirect to you to each individual site. NOW the game has changed. With the new LIKEtoKNOW.IT app you can screenshot photos or like photos and they are then shared to the app and you can shop them from the app, this eliminates the to need to search through all of your emails. I’ve always loved being able to have info sent to my email but now having it all in one spot with out spamming my inbox is even better. You also can follow your favorite bloggers/influencers in the app so all you have to do is log in to the LTK app and scroll through. If you only get on Instagram to shop then this totally cuts out the middle man of IG. I saved a few screenshots from my InstaStories (@taylorsmclemore)to show you how simple and easy it really is, did I mention it’s totally free to download?!

It’s really super simple and such an easy and fast way to shop! I know the new algorithm doesn’t always allow us to see are favorite people pop up so the LTK app is like our knight in shining armor!

Obviously if you’re on the blog you can shop my Instagram feed at the top labeled LIKEtoKNOW.IT which has the same set up as the app, just click the photo you want outfit details about and all of the product info will pop up and then just click to shop!

Blogger, a word that instantly gets an eye roll when mentioned. It used to be a term when mentioned would confuse people because it was so new and misunderstood (and still is) but now it’s a word that’s so commonly used that people have become numb to it and legit eye roll when they hear it which can be quite insulting on many levels especially if you’re someone who makes a living off of their blog. Blogs have been around for a hot minute sharing everything from hacks, to recipes to DIY around the house but it wasn’t until the past few years that the influencer came to be more mainstream and not solely reserved for celebrities, musicians & high profile athletes. Today’s influencers have really changed the world of blogging and for many it’s a highly sought after title. Here’s the thing not everyone that has a blog has the same end game or drive. I know, GASP, you can’t put all bloggers in the same mold. We all have different wants, needs and have completely different drives behind what makes us sit behind the keyboard and share with the world. I feel like this post is going to be a giant vent sesh for me to get out things I’ve been thinking about and haven’t been able to put into words until now so it’s going to be in kind of a weird format. Sorry to all my English majors/grammar natzi and OCD readers.

I am me and I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. I don’t like being put in a mold and told that because I have a blog that I have to do things the way every other blogger is doing. Wrong. Sure we all want success but it doesn’t all have to happen the same way. Sometimes I want to be trendy and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I post on IG Stories, sometimes I don’t. I don’t do selfie talk sessions because I hate not hear myself talk. I don’t have a IG theme and probably never will. I hardly ever share PR packages I get, I love watching other bloggers/ YouTubers show what they receive but for some reason I feel weird about sharing it. I will share if there are products/items I do love. I don’t use a bunch of apps to edit my photos. I don’t really plan content months in advanced. I don’t only shop designer brands. I think one of my biggest pet peeves is when people try to stereotype bloggers into one. The big issue with this is that we all have a different audience. You have to appeal to what they (the audience) wants and what they expect from us as the curator. I feel like my audience knows me well enough to know that there are certain things I don’t do, and it’s nothing against others that do them it’s just not me. Instagram has recently added a feature where you can save your favorite Stories and you can categorize them so your readers can easily find specific topics you’re searching for. I think this is an awesome feature that was added even though I haven’t yet jumped on board. Just because I’m not using this new feature doesn’t mean I don’t like it, it just means I personally have no need/desire use it at this moment. It doesn’t make me a bad blogger or that I don’t care about my readers it’s just not in my wheel house right now which should be ok.

EVEN THOUGH JUST ABOUT EVERY BLOGGER DOES THEM…..It’s ok to not do a themed photoshoot for every holiday. It’s ok to not do sale guides. It’s ok that you aren’t taking trips every weekend. It’s ok to not rebrand after a few years. It’s ok to not use affiliate links. It’s ok to not do sponsored content. It’s ok to not have an Instagram theme. It drives me insane when I scroll through social media and read comments like omg I need to do x, y & z. It’s awesome to get inspired through other bloggers/influencers, hell I think thats why most of us of do what we do but it’s ok to not do everything everyone is doing. Which leads me to my next rant, trust your own journey and don’t let comparison get the best of you.

JUST STOP!

stop comparing

stop looking at others

Wanna know a secret? No one else is YOU, has YOUR story or has YOUR magic. It can be a total bummer to see others constantly succeeded when you feel like your stuck struggling but STOP thinking that way. Figure out a way to stand out amongst the rest & make people want to know what you’ll do next!

The algorithm has hit all of us hard, no matter how big or small we are in the blogosphere. Plain and simple it sucks but I’m personally tired of hearing how bad it sucks, we ALL get it, blogger or not, no one wants to see something from 5 days ago and we would all like to have things in chronological order but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon. People are doing different things to try to combat the issue from doing giveaways (which seems to drive the entire world mad) to ‘liking’ several of their favorite accounts recent photos in the attempt to show Instagram that that specific person is someone you want to see on your feed. I know it can be discouraging but it’s a battle I don’t know we can win. Just keep creating content your audience wants to see and keep praying that the Internet God’s will hear us. Real talk: stop caring about how many likes you have, I know it’s super annoying when you aren’t hitting whatever number you have in your head but trust me not every brand is concerned with this. Yes numbers are important but when they’re fake and when engagement isn’t genuine (i.e. comment pods) brands and other bloggers see this and it can be a major turn off. With all this being said, if you are a blogger and you love doing giveaways, participating in comment pods & numbers are big deal for you then by all means do you and don’t listen to the negative comments. Everyone’s blog is their own business and if that’s how someone choices to run their business then by all means. It’s no different then Target creating a dupe for designer clothing. If I was Gucci I would be irritated beyond belief that there were cheaper version of my designs being sold. Like it or not, there is legitimately room for everyone in this crazy world. With that being said…..It’s so hard not to compare yourself being in the blogger world, hell it’s hard not to compare yourself in today’s world with how social media portrays how our lives should be. We’re all guilty of playing this devilish game but the trick is to realize you’re being played and get out! I’ve read several quotes and articles about the importance of unfollowing. It sounds rude but if someone popping up on your feed makes you feel anything but happy, inspired or motivated then consider it toxic and they need to go/be unfollowed. It could be as simple as you can’t stand the way they style their hair or that you think they bought all their followers. It’s not their fault you feel a certain way & it doesn’t make that person a bad person but unless someone that person is pushing you to be a better you, inspiring you or uplighting you in some way they don’t need to be popping up. Life is way too short to worry with pointless drama that could easily be eliminated. I feel like I have a double whammy being a new small business owner (www.sieboutique.com) , I find myself constantly comparing myself to boutiques that have been open for years and it gets me down at times but then I have to give myself a pep talk like “Taylor you legit just opened and you’re a one man show doing everything by yourself, you can’t expect to have the results of a company that has multiple people running the show”. The comparison game is real and it’s deadly. I constantly have to tell myself that I’m right where I need to be with the business, I’m still learning (believe me I still have a lot to learn) and it will grow at it’s own pace. Shoutout to everyone who has been so encouraging throughout this process so far & I’m so thankful for all the customers I’ve already had from all across the country! 🙂

I hope I didn’t offend anyone with anything I said, the main point of my rant was to just say to be you and to hell with what everyone is doing. Trust yourself and your vision. If it takes you longer than someone else to get to a certain goal, who cares. Different path, different times, different results. We are fortunate enough to live in an a time where we can in fact be whatever we want and be whoever we want. Let’s live each day hoping to inspire/motivate even just one person!

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